Bad Guy Allen Both - Reptile Kingdom

[birdman123]

My gosh! This is seriously out of control. Guys seriously I am so sorry about what is happening you all! It is horrible! I think it is also horrible that this guy will give you your payment or animal only if you complain. This man is sort of becoming a crook in my view no one should be allowed to do this. Really guys we should start to report bad transaction to some authority. Right now we can't due to that bill but if it does fly over (I pray it does). Maybe it makes sense to have a Certified Bad guy? I don't know. We need this somewhere other than here. I was under the impression that things got better but we see these problems popping up. It would be a good experiment to see what will happen if this is taken off for a while lets say 3 months. If he becomes bad again we need to make it clear that he is not a person to buy from. I mean all these guys can't get away with these things at shows like not give payment and the animals. Then, we would have proof, real proof. I actually think that he should drop his prices. We need to make our industry as clean as we can because if we got clean the out scammers from our industry because if they are everywhere the people on Captiol Hill may just say it is a bad business anyway and there is proof.

 

[michaelynn]

Well here is my experience will Allen Both and Reptile Kingdom: I responded to an add he posted on kingsnake.com where he was looking for breeders to supply his buisness with reptiles. After a few email exchanges we came to an agreement and I shipped him the reptiles. Now its four months later and I still have not recieved payment and he has refused to answer/return call and email. So now I'm out $1400.00 and this loss has forced me to reduce my collection and I maynot be able to afford to breed my animals this year.

I agree Allen Both should be stopped, this type of behavior cannot be allowed to continue.

 

[mountaintopreptiles]

Allen Both

Hi guys, sorry its been awhile since I've stopped by I have just been really buissy building my racks for all of my red beardies. well as it stands Allen has made good with me, I guess that would debatable but I am satisfied. He wound up sending me a cb 100 gram female mexican hog supposed to be a proven breeder but it is kind of a moot point at the moment as I dont have any other mexicans and yes I checked the scale count and it counts out as mexican just no locality info on her unfortunatly
thanks all
Adam

 

[Ectothermicfauna]

My experience

April Linkfield:

I had an interesting thing happen to me not to long ago. was going to buy a male superdwarf retic from a buddy as a birthday present, well they decided they werent selling it and i had already told the birthday girl and she had already got her hopes up about it so I really wanted to find one. I found one up for sale from reptilekingdom for like $400 and I thought well thats a bit cheap for a superdwarf but I talked to the guy and he assured me it was one, So I sent him over the payment and we had a shipping date picked out and then the day of shipping- He sends me an email saying he went to pick it up from the breeder and they did not have it.... I was under the impression that the snake was in his possession so I felt a bit peeved that it was days away from the birthday and I bought a snake he didnt even have... He did reverse the charges and apologize and everything but I still felt bad when the birthday came up and I had no present.

But all is well that ends well because now I have deposits on a 1.1 pair from Garrick Demeyer...

 

[ljsreptiles]

I had one experience with Allen, that was horrible. I might even have a thread about it here. Basically, I bought a piar of woma's, prepaid and picked them up at the White Plains, NY show. When I got them settled in, I noticed them weezing. I met Allen a couple days later, returned them to him and he promised to refund my paypal. Needless to say it took months for me to finally get it. He even sent payments he knew would never go through, it his stalling attempts. I can't even count how many emails i sent that went ignored.

Finally after threatening to come to his table in White Plains, and demand my money or take inventory in place of the $900 he owed me (which I din't really want). That morning of the show probably 8am I had a legit paypal refund from him

I won't even look at his table or him anymore.

April: Stick with Grarrick..he is TOP NOTCH!

 

[Goombas Reptiles]

I recently purchased a albino burm supposed 100% het lab from Allen at the Reading show. While I have no complaints about the animal itself, she is doing great, I must admit that the customer service was far from fantastic. While making the purchase, Allen reamined seated while I had to ask his helper all the questions, only to have them relayed to Allen, who seriously was 10 feet away. None of the animals were sexed, and Allen seemed bothered by the fact that I wanted a female and politely asked him to check each one for me. I dont find it necessary to have to sex other peoples animals. If its up for sale, it should be clearly marked and priced, especially if you dont like answering customers questions. Also, I emailed him the next day just to verify the genetics of this animal. He did have them listed on here as 100% hets as well, but I was looking for some sort of written statement, and perhaps pictures of the parents as it will be 2-3 years before I can prove her out. She will be my only burm, and will only be bred to an albino labrynth, and it will be very disappointing if I find out I have been had. Again, I am not disputing the quality of the animal, but I am agreeing with the lack of professionalism and customer service. I hope you other posters can have your issues resolved. Good luck.

 

[ReptileKIngdom]

response

In Response to a few things.....

First and foremost in the post from "April Linkfield", i was never contacted by this person, have never had a dwarf super tiger retic, in fact i have never had a dwarf retic of any king in my inventory and never claimed to or tried to sell one, so clearly you have us mixed up with someone else.

Second - In the case of the woma pythons that Leslie got, i was dragged into an unfortunate situation by selling that pair of snakes for a friend of mine. Given the recent tough economy i had to get the money back from my friend to refund it to Leslie, which i did, however that whole thing took some time. I often have people that i have know for a while wanting to sell animals on my table because i have a large display and usually some room. I have pretty much stopped this practice because it has caused too much grief.

Third - I worked out the fire skink think in a very professional manner and if i came off an uncaring in the initial phone call i could have been having a bad day or many things were going on, not a great excuse but i am sure EVERYONE has a bad day.

Lastly - Michael, i am sending you the money for the snakes you sent me, in this case things happen and the economy has gotten the best of me.

Oh yeah, one more thing, the albino burm at the Reading show is 100% het for labyrinth and i will back up the genetics. I normally never sit down at shows but i was sick that day and to top it off, the show was HORRIBLE and we lost money, so there was no ill intention in the lack of customer service.

 

[Goombas Reptiles]

Oh yeah, one more thing, the albino burm at the Reading show is 100% het for labyrinth and i will back up the genetics. I normally never sit down at shows but i was sick that day and to top it off, the show was HORRIBLE and we lost money, so there was no ill intention in the lack of customer service.

Thank you Allen. I agree, that show was very disappointing. In fact, the burm was my only purchase that day, if that makes you feel any better lol. I'm sorry you weren't feeling well and apologize for the assumption. I've seen it happen with other vendors too many times and as a paying customer (who actually knows what he is looking for and not a noob just wanting a pet) its a little frustrating when having to deal with the hired help who isn't prepared to answer questions. I appreciate your reply. Tony

 

[Ben2112]

Reptile Kingdom Sux

I bought a Borneo short tail from Allen Both at the White Plains Expo last November. When I got it home I realized it had both mites and a the beginnings of a respitory infection. He did absolutely nothing to help me and passed the blame on a very well known breeder among borneo short tails. I spent 5 times the amount I paid for the snake on Baytril, Cultures and follow up visits. I have to say here two thumbs down for Reptile Kingdom. If Allen can't take care or keep track of the animals he sells, then he is way over his head and should stop.

 

[ReptileKIngdom]

the blood

I certainly stand behind the animals i sell, but i bought those snakes on the day you bought one from Keith McPeek and they were high quality bloods. That is why i don't understand your situation. I actually bought ten of them and they were all awesome animals, every other customer was very happy to get such high quality animals at such a good price. Would you buy an animal with mites and a resp. infection? If it was a terrible animal, why would you buy it? I understand things happen and i wasn't passing the buck but come on. I am sorry you had a problem but if not for this thread you only contacted me once about it and we came to no resolution. I try to make sure everyone gets quality animals and a fair deal, i never sell sick animals to customers, i leave them home. I have been in this business since 1986 (longer than most) and have sold countless high quality animals and although unfortunate when you sell a large volume, sometimes people are not happy, i understand that and i always try to accomodate them as best as possible. Do you still have the blood? What are you looking for as compensation? Maybe if you had e-mailed me privately we could have worked something out but sometimes i feel people use this forum unfairly.

 

[Ectothermicfauna]

My apologies.

April Linkfield:

My apologies Allen,

You were right, I had got you mixed up for someone else. That event happened with a guy named travis at the "Reptile King" not you at the "Reptile Kingdom"...

Honest mistake, I am very embarassed and I do certainly apologize Allen.

From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: RE: The Reptile King Order
Date: Thu, 18 Mar 2010 12:52:25 -0700

April,
I have some double bad news. I went to pick up the Dwarf Retic from the breeder and they no longer have any in stock, I was not updated like I was suppose to be on the availability, not a happy camper. The other news is the other snakes you requested are not available yet, but I will save the email and work on it for you. I am very sorry about the inconvenience. I have reversed the transaction, you should see the funds applied to your card in 2-3 days. I also added $10.00 to your account in the form of store credit, that can be applied to anything in the store. I have a few very good connections in the industry I will see what I can do for you. Again very sorry.


Sincerely,
Travis

Thats the email from Travis @ Reptile King... So as you all can see, not from Allen at Reptile Kingdom.. I am Horridly embarassed, Several Apologies Allen.

 

[Ben2112]

Reptile Kingdom - Bad experience

The November 2009 White Plains show was the first show I attended in over 10 years. I just started to get back into reptiles and probably should have been a little more careful about shady dealers. My Borneo Short Tail had the very beginning stages of a Respitory Infection that probably no one would have noticed at first glance. A very light popping sound when she breathed could not have been audible in the middle of a large trade show. I also did not notice the mites until after a week or two when I saw one crawling on her. Like I said, I was just getting back into reptiles and should have been more wary of these things. Now I know. If you say you never sell sick animals to customers then you obviously didn't notice the problems either!! I have all the paper work from my vet that states she does have a Respitory Infection. In fact, I E-Mailed you twice and talked to you once on the phone about this and all you said was "I got the animals from Keith McPeek so I don't know what to tell you". Those were your exact words. Very irresponsible. So obviously, yes, we didn't come to any resolution thanks to you. I paid $100 for the animal and have spent over $500 trying to get her well. My purchase has turned into a rescue! To answer your question yes I still have her thank you very much, and she is I believe pulling out of the infection finally. It has been quite a battle. People have a right to know what is going on with various dealers and that is why I am posting here. It is not to bad mouth dealers for no reason whatsoever. It is just to make people aware of who they are dealing with and their reputation. I certainly do not think it would be too much to ask for a full refund for my little Borneo considering the fact that she would have died if it wasn't for me. But you know what?? YOU CAN KEEP IT. I have already seen first hand how hard it is to pry a pathetic $100 bill from you. You should however mention this incident to Keith McPeek. That is the LEAST you could do. I don't think I am alone in saying this again...If people can't take care of the animals they sell or own, they should not have them.

 

[Patrick@ColorfulCreatures]

I sent Allen 20 panther chameleons on 3/19 and was supposed to be paid half upon recieving the shipment and the other half in a week according to him and have yet to be paid. All I've gotten is excuses and promises to pay. Not to mention he has an ad to buy bearded dragons on 3/23 when he was supposed to send me my money and claims he sent it but somehow must have never made it. I would advise any breeders to NOT send this guy anything unless paid first, and after reading several posts of sick animals I would think twice about doing any type of business whatsoever with him.

 

[StrictlyExotics]

I sent Allen 20 panther chameleons on 3/19 and was supposed to be paid half upon recieving the shipment and the other half in a week according to him and have yet to be paid. All I've gotten is excuses and promises to pay. Not to mention he has an ad to buy bearded dragons on 3/23 when he was supposed to send me my money and claims he sent it but somehow must have never made it. I would advise any breeders to NOT send this guy anything unless paid first, and after reading several posts of sick animals I would think twice about doing any type of business whatsoever with him.

This is so terrible. I always see something I want to buy from them but cant bring myself to doing so since I feel that he might be selling me something that really isnt even theirs yet.

 

[Patrick@ColorfulCreatures]

Yesterday I recieved a partial payment

 

[Ben2112]

Reptile Kingdom Sux

He is still a loser. Doesn't seem to have much to say about my previous post either.

 

[Patrick@ColorfulCreatures]

By partial I mean didn't even cover the shipping, also he even emailed me saying he had my money on Friday but spent it at a show hoping to make money but didn't and of course another bad check was written to him. Bad checks seems always be his excuse, with several posts going back years this is always the problem. Seems he needs better accounts if they never pay him but of course these are just excuses. Good business is not purchasing anything until you have CLEARED money in your account especially since according to him the checks he recieves tend to bounce.

 

[MikeCurtin]

While I appreciate Allen's comments here, and his attempt to make good and address the issues presented, this certainly seems to be an ongoing business pattern for him. Selling animals prior to quarantine and health assessments, and taking animals prior to having the funds to cover them is poor business in my opinion.

Allen, you may want to sell animals to fund your restocking expenses rather than restocking in hopes that you will be able to generate enough sales to pay the bill. It seems the way you've been doing things has not been working out so well. Remitting payment prior to receipt of animals may save you (and your suppliers) some headaches.

 

[Ben2112]

Reptile Kingdom Sux

Mabey I'll call him out in front of everyone at the next White Plains show. I throw my vet bills in his face!

 

[Patrick@ColorfulCreatures]

While I appreciate Allen's comments here, and his attempt to make good and address the issues presented, this certainly seems to be an ongoing business pattern for him. Selling animals prior to quarantine and health assessments, and taking animals prior to having the funds to cover them is poor business in my opinion.

Allen, you may want to sell animals to fund your restocking expenses rather than restocking in hopes that you will be able to generate enough sales to pay the bill. It seems the way you've been doing things has not been working out so well. Remitting payment prior to receipt of animals may save you (and your suppliers) some headaches.

It's never okay to request animals without having the funds and even if intending to pay eventually, in my opinion it's theft to take animals you can't afford and lying about having money you don't is definitely theft.